How to set data recovery objectives for small business backups

Summary

This guide helps you troubleshoot and resolve: How to set data recovery objectives for small business backups. Follow the steps below to fix the issue.

Common Causes

Data loss can happen at any time due to hardware failure, accidental deletion, or cyber threats such as ransomware. For small businesses and home office users across Australia, having a clear data recovery objective ensures that critical files are protected and can be restored quickly when something goes wrong. This guide explains how to set Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) and Recovery Time Objectives (RTO), and how to set up automatic backups using external drives and cloud storage to meet those targets.

Understanding Data Recovery Objectives

Before configuring backups, define two key metrics that determine your backup strategy:

• Recovery Point Objective (RPO): The maximum acceptable amount of data loss measured in time. For example, if you back up every 24 hours, your RPO is one day, meaning you could lose up to a day's worth of data.
• Recovery Time Objective (RTO): The maximum acceptable time to restore data and resume normal operations after an incident.

To set your objectives, ask: How much data can we afford to lose? (RPO) and How quickly must we be back online? (RTO). For most small businesses, a daily backup to an external drive combined with continuous cloud synchronisation provides a practical balance between cost and protection.

Quick Fix Steps

1. Identify the files and folders critical to your business operations.
2. Determine your RPO (how often you need to back up) and RTO (how quickly you need to restore).
3. Connect an external drive with sufficient storage capacity.
4. Enable automatic backups using Windows Backup or macOS Time Machine.
5. Set up cloud storage for offsite redundancy.
6. Test file recovery to confirm backups are working correctly.

Detailed Instructions

Setting Up Automatic Backups on Windows

1. Connect an external USB drive to your computer.
2. Open Settings and select Update & Security.
3. Click Backup in the left-hand menu.
4. Under Back up using File History, select Add a drive and choose your external drive.
5. Turn on Automatically back up my files.
6. Select More options to adjust how often backups occur and which folders are included, aligning with your RPO.

Setting Up Automatic Backups on macOS

1. Connect an external drive formatted for macOS.
2. Open System Settings (or System Preferences on older versions).
3. Select Time Machine.
4. Click Select Backup Disk and choose your external drive.
5. Enable Back Up Automatically.

Configuring Cloud Storage

Cloud storage provides an offsite copy of your data, protecting against local disasters such as fire or theft. Popular options include OneDrive, Google Drive, and Dropbox.

1. Sign in to your chosen cloud storage service.
2. Install the desktop application for your provider.
3. Select the folders you want to sync, such as Documents or Desktop.
4. Verify that files are uploading by checking the cloud status icon in your taskbar or menu bar.

For the best protection, follow the 3-2-1 backup rule: keep three copies of your data, on two different media types, with one copy stored offsite.

Recovering Files After Data Loss

Restoring from Windows File History

1. Connect your external backup drive.
2. Open Settings, go to Update & Security, then Backup.
3. Select More options and click Restore files from a current backup.
4. Browse to the file or folder you need, select it, and click the green restore button.

Restoring from macOS Time Machine

1. Connect your Time Machine backup drive.
2. Open the folder where the missing file was located.
3. Click the Time Machine icon in the menu bar and select Enter Time Machine.
4. Use the timeline on the right to find the version you need.
5. Select the file and click Restore.

Restoring from Cloud Storage

1. Log in to your cloud storage account via the web portal or desktop app.
2. Navigate to the file or folder you need to recover.
3. If using version history, right-click the file and select Version history to restore an earlier version.
4. Download the file to your computer or restore it to its original location.

External drives can fail just like internal drives. Do not rely on a single backup device. Regularly test that you can actually recover files, not just that backups are completing.

Choosing the Right Storage Media

• External Hard Drive: Cost-effective for large volumes of data. Suitable for daily or weekly local backups.
• Solid State Drive (SSD): Faster and more durable, but typically more expensive per gigabyte.
• Cloud Storage: Provides offsite protection and accessibility from multiple devices. Requires an internet connection for backups and restores.
• Network Attached Storage (NAS): Useful for businesses with multiple computers needing centralised backup storage.

For guidance on backing up specific media types, see our article How to backup photos to external drive.

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